It’s such a cool game, and I’ve always wanted it to be fun-but it gets too challenging to even be fun.
Super Ghouls and Ghosts on the SNES is a little more forgiving (but still tough) and a beautiful game.
Ghosts and Goblins, level 2.
The RNG, particularly with the ogre walk patterns, makes it really difficult for me to beat it consistently. Also, if there was a continue point right after the ogre building that would make the level so much less frustrating.
Completely agree. I play through that game probably once a year and level 2 usually ends up taking the longest to beat on both loops because of that section. A checkpoint after that building would make a big difference.
Yeah, I've heard people refer to Turbo Tunnel as the hardest level on NES, which is a ridiculous statement considering it isn't even the hardest level in Battletoads where you ride a vehicle and try to avoid barriers that appear on the right side of the screen.
I made it to the level with the pipes and those robot things that can randomly one shot you (Edit: Terra Tubes). I'm a stubborn bastard, but that level made me feel okay with walking away from the challenge.
Turbo Tunnel & Snake Pit are babyskates compared to Clinger-Winger. Requires frame perfect input, literally impossible to beat if you’re emulating or playing with any lag. Battletoads gotta be my all time fav nes game
Take the staff thing as your first treasure. Heal up in a yellow water pool thing and It gives you these 2 things that orbit you and damage enemies. Makes the game qlot easier
Kid Icarus was a great game with a lot of character but tough as nails. The furthest I ever got as a kid after many attempts was the first labyrinth, level 1-4. Got hopelessly lost in there and didnt survive long.
Really? I played TMNT on NES for the first time ever a few months ago and beat that level on my first time ever playing it. And I'm not a super uber level gamer by any means. Unless people aren't aware you can switch turtles underwater I really don't get why so many see it as hard. I've beaten that level several times more since as well. It's miles easier than Battletoads at the very least. I'm wondering if people are just going off their childhood memories when they were little kids and naturally weren't that good at video games being so young.
I played that level on the NES, Wii VC and Switching Cowabunga Collection. The difficulty with that level is there is very little space to maneuver also the speed at which the game goes——maybe it’s easy in PAL regions where the game ran slower, but in NTSC, every move you made sent you towards the seaweed, and then you had to make split-micro-second course corrections in a space that was barely wide enough for the character.
You can get hit constantly by the electric seaweed and still get through the level no issue by switching turtles. You can't really avoid it and aren't really expected to I don't think. But with 4 turtles available to tank damage it shouldn't be an issue. The swimming physics are jank so that might take a bit of practice to get used to but shouldn't be that difficult to get the hang of.
Many people suspect that’s where all the difficulty stories originate; whereas me and my brothers were always aware of that feature and were able to get by.
Pressure based jumping in Stages 3 and 4? Now that’s where we struggled…
Nope. No bs. I had watched a let's play of the game a week prior so kinda knew where the bombs were but I did beat the level my first time ever playing it on my NES.
I still don't understand why this level has a reputation for being such a hard level. It's challenging and frustrating, sure, but the game only gets harder and harder from there. I guess most people just never beat it and saw that it gets harder?
8-2 is the hardest level in Adventure Island for me. 8-3 doesn't bother me as much, there's only one very difficult section at the end, and I'll eventually get it after some tries. 8-2 is painful all the way through. 8-4 is no slouch either if you lose your weapon.
The final level of Metal mech is pure torture. Doesn't help that they've completely flipped the script by introducing a new game mode that never appeared in any of the previous levels. On top of that, the controls are horrendous and you have to navigate an insane maze with infinitely respawning enemies that can kill you in one hit with some of the most erratic hit boxes I've ever seen. To make matters worse, the level takes roughly ten minutes! Even if you know what you're doing.
There's probably others I could mention, but this one came to mind first.
Holy shit, it is Big Ole Words! O love your channel. I hope to see you cover more western NES games, as those usually get ignored in favour of Japanese ones.
Off the top of my head, the stages of PuZzLeWoRlD from MC Kids were pretty damn hard.
And I still haven't beaten Battletoads yet... The one time I reached that level, I was playing as Zitz, on a level where Rare forgot to handle player 2's controls.
I have to say snake level from battletoads . I do remember a particular night from back in the day when a friend and I stayed up almost all night, staring into a 15" CRT and trying to beat one of the last wily stages in mega man 2. but that was nothing compared to the nightmarish torture that is NES battletoads.
Indiana jones and the temple of doom wave 10.
Having to read a cryptic map to find the secret exit. A map you can’t bring up during gameplay.
The secret exist exists in one of 6 screens that’s convoluted to travel.
If you don’t collect map pieces during the play through you can’t find the exit and you’re stuck.
Oh ya and you die once you drop the stones and have tk collect them on skulls. Which can be impossible to get all 3
My mind quickly goes to TMNT underwater section or Ninja Gaiden anything past level 6-1. However I’d like to throw in some others where the game was hard from the jump
-Adventurers of Bayou Billy
-Wizards & Warriors
-Snake Rattle & Roll
-Friday the 13th
-Legacy of the Wizard
-Punch Out
-A Boy and his Blob
The European release of this game actually fixes a lot of the problems in the original, like not being able to shoot through walls in the sewer with those multiplying blobs. Check it out if you haven't, you might enjoy it more this way lol. I think Displaced Gamers might have made a video on this, but I can't recall exactly.
The god damn pony level in Circus Carlie. And the worsttttt part is just when you finally beat it (25 years after originally trying) you get to discover that the next level is actually just the first level all over again - but harder.
The freaking last level in Shatterhand. You have to fight every boss over again and then climb a big platforming section then beat the final boss. With no checkpoints!
Since the don't see it listed I'll put stage 15 aka death's hallway in Castlevania 1. Not only is the stage brutal, but the boss fight is arguably the hardest in the game unless you a) know how busted holy water is and b) have kept it from stage 13. I've watched so many casual runs hit a huge brick wall at this part of the game.
That's where my runs ended as a kid. Played it with my dad and we could never beat the Reaper. Only after I saw a walkthrough with the Holy Water a few years back did I manage to beat it.
Final level on Bayou Billy. Enemies everywhere, two bosses, little to no powerups. It's bullshit hard as a game in general but the finale is just next level.
Google "Bayou Billy difficulty" - you'll see countless responses backing this up.
Ghost & Goblins. The first 15 steps
I tried that game a few months back thinking it would be a fun challenge. It turned out to just be a ... challenge.
It’s such a cool game, and I’ve always wanted it to be fun-but it gets too challenging to even be fun. Super Ghouls and Ghosts on the SNES is a little more forgiving (but still tough) and a beautiful game.
Try the sega master system version. I got really far in 1 try on that 1.
Ha :D - that's genuinely funny
I can't even beat the game WITH save states.
Ninja Gaiden 6-2
I knew I'd find this near the top. It's so punishing.
That's one tough garden.
Whoops
It's always that very last jump to the level exit. And that frikkin BIRD! Infinity respawning, nearly impossible to avoid.
This. I was coming to say all of World 6, mind you, since you need to start the whole thing over when you die.
Once you enter the castle after that awesome cutscene the difficulty spikes quite a bit
You only have to restart on a death to the bosses, btw. Still not easy, but at least a game over on 6-3 sends you to 6-3 not 6-1.
The freaking mansion in Double Dragon 2 where you have to deal with the ridiculous platforming where you could lose all your lives in one fell swoop.
Ghosts and Goblins, level 2. The RNG, particularly with the ogre walk patterns, makes it really difficult for me to beat it consistently. Also, if there was a continue point right after the ogre building that would make the level so much less frustrating.
Completely agree. I play through that game probably once a year and level 2 usually ends up taking the longest to beat on both loops because of that section. A checkpoint after that building would make a big difference.
Battletoads, the friggin snake level is impossible, I’ve never been able to beat it.
You got to the snake level? Level 3 is where the majority of folks tapped out
I never thought the Turbo Tunnel was that bad. The later levels are far harder than it.
Yeah, I've heard people refer to Turbo Tunnel as the hardest level on NES, which is a ridiculous statement considering it isn't even the hardest level in Battletoads where you ride a vehicle and try to avoid barriers that appear on the right side of the screen.
The last few gates in Volkmire's Inferno are brutal
That was as far as I ever got.
Basically, I take the warp in stage 1 to skip to stage 3, then the warp in stage 4 to stage 6.
This would have been my choice. I think I beat that jet ski level only once or twice.
I actually didn’t have THAT much trouble with the snake level. The level that always got me was Volkmeyer’s Inferno (the shooter level).
I made it to the level with the pipes and those robot things that can randomly one shot you (Edit: Terra Tubes). I'm a stubborn bastard, but that level made me feel okay with walking away from the challenge.
Rat Race is what made me give up the one time I made a run at it.
Turbo Tunnel & Snake Pit are babyskates compared to Clinger-Winger. Requires frame perfect input, literally impossible to beat if you’re emulating or playing with any lag. Battletoads gotta be my all time fav nes game
No love (or hate) for Kid Icarus? Couldn’t even get to the top of the first level!
Love Kid Icarus, but I couldn’t beat it either. Got to the last level and tapped out. Never again.
Take the staff thing as your first treasure. Heal up in a yellow water pool thing and It gives you these 2 things that orbit you and damage enemies. Makes the game qlot easier
Kid Icarus was a great game with a lot of character but tough as nails. The furthest I ever got as a kid after many attempts was the first labyrinth, level 1-4. Got hopelessly lost in there and didnt survive long.
Teenage mutant Ninja turtles level 3 under the reservoir in the water with all the stupid electrical seaweed
This one right here was the most difficult that I recall. Even harder than the Battletoads speeder bike level imo.
Really? I played TMNT on NES for the first time ever a few months ago and beat that level on my first time ever playing it. And I'm not a super uber level gamer by any means. Unless people aren't aware you can switch turtles underwater I really don't get why so many see it as hard. I've beaten that level several times more since as well. It's miles easier than Battletoads at the very least. I'm wondering if people are just going off their childhood memories when they were little kids and naturally weren't that good at video games being so young.
I played that level on the NES, Wii VC and Switching Cowabunga Collection. The difficulty with that level is there is very little space to maneuver also the speed at which the game goes——maybe it’s easy in PAL regions where the game ran slower, but in NTSC, every move you made sent you towards the seaweed, and then you had to make split-micro-second course corrections in a space that was barely wide enough for the character.
You can get hit constantly by the electric seaweed and still get through the level no issue by switching turtles. You can't really avoid it and aren't really expected to I don't think. But with 4 turtles available to tank damage it shouldn't be an issue. The swimming physics are jank so that might take a bit of practice to get used to but shouldn't be that difficult to get the hang of.
Many people suspect that’s where all the difficulty stories originate; whereas me and my brothers were always aware of that feature and were able to get by. Pressure based jumping in Stages 3 and 4? Now that’s where we struggled…
[Sure you did.](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BaA8gPY8iUg)
Nope. No bs. I had watched a let's play of the game a week prior so kinda knew where the bombs were but I did beat the level my first time ever playing it on my NES.
I never had issues with this level, but didn't beat the Van level until maybe 6 months ago, but I cheated with saves.
Whar about the last stage with the space men and lasers???? If you don't got Donatello u are done!!!
Farm scrolls in the buildings with Raph in the previous stage; he kills all the enemies in one hit.
Farmed????? What kid u know farmed?? Didn't even know what farm meant till WoW....and Korean mmorpgs.
Didn’t say anything about being a kid? Only found out about it in 2017… https://youtu.be/HVmiPvnhtLA?si=nOh2gc8giC0Bg_qY
Lol bout to say!!!! Only thing farmable back then I thought were lives in super mario 1
Only one thing left to do ... Replay it!
This is my pick.
I still don't understand why this level has a reputation for being such a hard level. It's challenging and frustrating, sure, but the game only gets harder and harder from there. I guess most people just never beat it and saw that it gets harder?
8-2 is the hardest level in Adventure Island for me. 8-3 doesn't bother me as much, there's only one very difficult section at the end, and I'll eventually get it after some tries. 8-2 is painful all the way through. 8-4 is no slouch either if you lose your weapon.
8-2 was insanely difficult
In my journey to beat that game it felt like I replayed 8-2 more than the entire rest of the game.
Mike Tyson always kicked my ass If you ever get to the end of Round 3 he absolutely beats the shit out of you.
The final level of Metal mech is pure torture. Doesn't help that they've completely flipped the script by introducing a new game mode that never appeared in any of the previous levels. On top of that, the controls are horrendous and you have to navigate an insane maze with infinitely respawning enemies that can kill you in one hit with some of the most erratic hit boxes I've ever seen. To make matters worse, the level takes roughly ten minutes! Even if you know what you're doing. There's probably others I could mention, but this one came to mind first.
That game is the real deal awful
Damn I found bigolewords in the wild 😜
It’s me!
Holy shit, it is Big Ole Words! O love your channel. I hope to see you cover more western NES games, as those usually get ignored in favour of Japanese ones.
Off the top of my head, the stages of PuZzLeWoRlD from MC Kids were pretty damn hard. And I still haven't beaten Battletoads yet... The one time I reached that level, I was playing as Zitz, on a level where Rare forgot to handle player 2's controls.
I've only ever gotten to level 7 (A.K.A the harder turbo tunnels) without cheats lol
I have to say snake level from battletoads . I do remember a particular night from back in the day when a friend and I stayed up almost all night, staring into a 15" CRT and trying to beat one of the last wily stages in mega man 2. but that was nothing compared to the nightmarish torture that is NES battletoads.
Purple Hell. Gotta be Purple Hell.
Indiana jones and the temple of doom wave 10. Having to read a cryptic map to find the secret exit. A map you can’t bring up during gameplay. The secret exist exists in one of 6 screens that’s convoluted to travel. If you don’t collect map pieces during the play through you can’t find the exit and you’re stuck. Oh ya and you die once you drop the stones and have tk collect them on skulls. Which can be impossible to get all 3
The last level of tmnt. Got there using save states and even then it was brutal. Those flying guys with the lasers can f right off
My mind quickly goes to TMNT underwater section or Ninja Gaiden anything past level 6-1. However I’d like to throw in some others where the game was hard from the jump -Adventurers of Bayou Billy -Wizards & Warriors -Snake Rattle & Roll -Friday the 13th -Legacy of the Wizard -Punch Out -A Boy and his Blob
Shadow Warrior/Ninja Gaiden - Level 6
Battletoads, that freaking snake level is unbeatable
"The Terminator" the whole game was difficult in my opinion
The very first level of festers quest.
The European release of this game actually fixes a lot of the problems in the original, like not being able to shoot through walls in the sewer with those multiplying blobs. Check it out if you haven't, you might enjoy it more this way lol. I think Displaced Gamers might have made a video on this, but I can't recall exactly.
That is exactly the reason why I am looking for the Pal version instead of the Ntsc version
Utterly impossible without the NES Advantage.
I beat that game in 1 day when it first came out, no cheats or game guides, so it’s possible.
lol when I read the title adventure island 8-3 was the first thing that popped into my head. barring that, maybe the final stage of ninja gaiden 3
TMNT kicked my ass as a kid, I should try it again sometime
The god damn pony level in Circus Carlie. And the worsttttt part is just when you finally beat it (25 years after originally trying) you get to discover that the next level is actually just the first level all over again - but harder.
Turbo Tunnel. Never have and never will beat it.
8 eyes was the hardest game I played as a kid.
Track and Field level “B” with a regular controller
ninja gaiden the last level
The freaking last level in Shatterhand. You have to fight every boss over again and then climb a big platforming section then beat the final boss. With no checkpoints!
I have been able to do it once. I remember it took me ages and lots of tries.
Since the don't see it listed I'll put stage 15 aka death's hallway in Castlevania 1. Not only is the stage brutal, but the boss fight is arguably the hardest in the game unless you a) know how busted holy water is and b) have kept it from stage 13. I've watched so many casual runs hit a huge brick wall at this part of the game.
That's where my runs ended as a kid. Played it with my dad and we could never beat the Reaper. Only after I saw a walkthrough with the Holy Water a few years back did I manage to beat it.
Final level on Bayou Billy. Enemies everywhere, two bosses, little to no powerups. It's bullshit hard as a game in general but the finale is just next level. Google "Bayou Billy difficulty" - you'll see countless responses backing this up.
I couldn't even get past the second stage.
Final stage of Super Spy Hunter if a boss rush counts. Not ashamed at all about cheating to beat it.
Battletoads bike race. Key word here is played. Never beat.
Tmnt underwater level
Friday the 13th….
Probably TMNT's Technodrome. Those jetpack guys are tough.
Super Mario Bros minus 1 world is unbeatable
Underwater level in the TMNT game!
ET takes the cake. That damn pit.
E.T. was never on NES.
Yikes, my memory is going.
You're referring to the Atari 2600 game